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Diary of a CEO · 2021-05-03

Russell Kane: How To Build Confidence & Stay Young | E79

Comedian Russell Kane on his domineering father, building confidence, personal responsibility, cancel culture, and his obsessive anti-aging biohacking.

Russell Kane: How To Build Confidence & Stay Young | E79
The guest

Russell Kane: Multi-award-winning British stand-up comedian, presenter, actor, author and scriptwriter, host of the Evil Genius podcast.

What this episode covers

Russell Kane opens up about growing up under a hyper-masculine, perpetually negative father on an Essex council estate and how that shaped both his drive and his fears. He argues self-awareness and objectivity (not self-esteem) are learnable skills, that mastery requires boring repetitive practice, and that success is a mix of hard work, personality, and makeable luck. The conversation moves through personal responsibility, obesity science, relationships and male sexual honesty, and the contradictions of cancel culture. Kane closes with a detailed, layman's breakdown of his biohacking and anti-aging regimen, including fasting, low-carb eating, NMN, resveratrol and hair-loss tactics.

Recommended on this episode

MediaRecommended

Three Identical Strangers

“fantastic, amazing, absolutely fantastic, really powerful film”
“you see that film through identical strangers yes fantastic yeah amazing absolutely fantastic yeah yeah made me upset”— Stephen Bartlett
ProductRecommended

NMN (Double Wood)

Double Wood

“if you're looking for a good one in the uk, i think it's double wood he's good”
“nmn loads of people make it okay if you're looking for a good one in the uk go on amazon i think it's double wood he's good”— Russell Kane
BookRecommendedISBN verified

Lifespan: Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To

David Sinclair

“the guy you want to read, if you read one book it will change your life, a brilliant book”
“david sinclair's the guy you want to read if you read one book it will change your life it's why we age and why we don't have to”— Russell Kane
ProductRecommended

Trans-Resveratrol (Vitafair)

Vitafair

“very very very important, vita fair is a good brand”
“you need trans resveratrol the ultra refined stuff you need a gram of it a day vita fair is is a good brand”— Russell Kane
ProductRecommended

PQQ

“i take pqq every morning”
“i take pqq every morning that's the little pink one i do take nmn which is really expensive”— Russell Kane
ProductRecommended

Minoxidil 15 (Duoden)

Duoden

“duoden's a good one, but it works”
“put on minoxidil 15 ideally duoden's a good one again very expensive but it works”— Russell Kane
ProductRecommended

Derma roller (titanium spike)

“i am using a derma roller, make sure you buy one with individual titanium spikes”
“i am using a derma roller you can buy these cheaply on amazon make sure you buy one with individual titanium spikes”— Russell Kane
ProductRecommended

Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo

Alpecin

“get a really good caffeine shampoo like alpacin”
“how you shampoo is important get a really good caffeine shampoo like alpacin and you want a brush”— Russell Kane
ProductRecommended

Atlas Biomed microbiome test

Atlas Biomed

“it's fascinating and they send back your whole internal microbiome”
“go to atlas biomed where you can get your own biome sequence by sending a bit of poo through the post it's fascinating”— Russell Kane

The guest's own work

MediaBy the guest

Evil Genius

Russell Kane

“that's why i make evil genius it's a slow weighing up over the hour we take the good and the bad we have an intellectual discussion”— Russell Kane

Also referenced (named, not recommended)

BookReferencedISBN verified

Black Box Thinking

Matthew Syed

“because i've noticed i call it black box thinking from the matthew syed book the moment you can have insight into a stand-up routine”— Russell Kane
BookReferencedISBN verified

Happy Sexy Millionaire

Stephen Bartlett

“my book that's why it's called happy sexy millionaire because it's the first page of my diary when i was like a kid”— Stephen Bartlett
MediaReferenced

8 Mile

“eminem style eight mile seize the bars and turn them on yourself first hard to do but you're the one that should be saying that first”— Stephen Bartlett
ProductReferenced

Imodium

“it was very scary i think i did a pack of imodium before i went on and my hand was shaking”— Russell Kane
BookReferencedISBN verified

Lost Connections

Johann Hari

“it was inspired a lot by johanna hari you wrote lost connections yes and um about getting back to our tribes”— Russell Kane
ProductReferenced

Bulletproof

Dave Asprey

“i started with dave asprey and bulletproof and all of those things although i do think drinking butter is way over the top”— Russell Kane
ProductReferenced

NAD

“i do take nmn every day that's the big one and that is a precursor to creating nad in the body”— Russell Kane

Big reveals from this episode

  • Kane took a DNA test partly fearing it would reveal his blond, blue-eyed father wasn't his biological dad.
  • After his father died, Kane found his diary, which read like a prisoner's log of daily disappointments and made him cry.
  • Kane's first stand-up laugh hooked him 'like a junkie' - his relationship fell apart, bills went unpaid and he dropped to ten stone.
  • On his mother's advice he spent a deliberate single year before meeting his wife Lindsay, who started as one of those dates.
  • Kane admits he lied about his age by five years to journalists to dodge ageism, then turned the tabloid scandal into a tour show.
  • Kane has run a CT scan showing he has plaques in his arteries but still rejects the mainstream low-fat cholesterol science.
  • Kane argues people of color may be more at risk from cancel culture because the right will pile on.

Worth remembering

  • Identical twin studies show one twin can grow taller than the other with better food, proving genetics is not destiny.
  • Kane's blunt formula for becoming a comedian: three years unpaid, three nights a week, earning money only after about five years.
  • Of every X Factor and Popstar: The Rivals contestant, Kane notes Harry Styles is essentially the only lasting platinum star.
  • Richard Wiseman's luck study found 'lucky' people spotted a planted 'stop reading, claim the money' newspaper headline that unlucky people missed.
  • Kane claims being overweight is a metabolic condition that causes overeating, not the other way around: 'obesity causes calorie surplus.'
  • Data suggests August/July-born and youngest children develop stronger personalities; few footballers are born in August.
  • A roughly 100-year study found men in committed relationships lived longer, were healthier and happier.
  • Human beings evolved for 16-hour to 2-day fasting gaps, triggering autophagy where cells consume their own dead protein.
  • Kane takes 750mg NMN and a gram of trans-resveratrol every morning to support NAD production and slow cellular aging.
  • For hair loss Kane uses a 0.5mm titanium derma roller, Minoxidil 15 and Alpecin caffeine shampoo rather than finasteride, fearing libido loss.